


Second Time's The Charm

by diapason



Series: tommy-centric [9]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Author Projecting onto TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Protective Sam | Awesamdude, Sam Nook - Freeform, TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Traumatized Tommyinnit (Video Blogging RPF), big innit hotel, but very very robotic and logical comfort, he/it pronouns for sam nook, in which the author just wants tommy to talk about his feelings for once, references to exile arc, robot sam nook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29462496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diapason/pseuds/diapason
Summary: Tommy's getting ready for the grand opening of the Big Innit Hotel. Logically, he knows it's not going to go like last time.The voice at the back of his head is going to need a bit more convincing.
Relationships: Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit
Series: tommy-centric [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2159838
Comments: 28
Kudos: 494
Collections: Found family to make me feel something





	Second Time's The Charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Qupid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qupid/gifts).



> happy birthday cupid!!
> 
> never written sam nook before, i stole the android thing from beck aenqa, thank u beck love u beck

Sure, the hotel's almost done, that's pog.

Still…

Tommy can't quite shake the little voice in the back of his head that swears it's all going to go wrong.

And yes, he delivered these invitations personally, he knows they got out there - he made the trek down south to Snowchester and up north to Technoblade and community's and over to the egg people and even gave Sam, the Warden, an invite for Dream that he trusted would get there as promised - he knows they haven't been intercepted and nobody's been misled. He did this all on his own, just to make sure nobody got inbetween him and his grand opening's big crowd.

And yes, he has been back home for a good few weeks now, his bad blood with the people around him is mostly settled, anyone who really wanted to hurt him is safely locked up. He knows nobody's pitying him any more, he knows he's back to being a normal Dream SMP citizen, with a massive fuckoff hotel to take care of. He knows it's not the same as it was.

And yes, Sam is trustworthy. He's been helping. He's been giving Tommy mindless, simple tasks, reasons to talk to the neighbours, reasons to get lost in a strip mine, reasons to do a little therapeutic robbery every now and again, and he's been doing it all through the front of Sam Nook, the android stationed at the front of the build site that doesn't stop making sure Tommy is wearing the proper safety equipment whenever he's onsite and doesn't shy away from threatening the lives of anyone who Tommy happens to lead in the wrong direction, whether they're openly suggesting they want to hurt Tommy or not. Sam Nook is hard on everyone but Tommy and his creator, it seems. Sam built him that way and it definitely helps Tommy feel better about having someone in his corner.

Still, though.

Still.

Nothing is helping to get rid of the little voice.

Because the little voice, in an awfully familiar tone, reminds him what happened  _ last  _ time he invited everyone he loved to a brand new location for a celebration.  _ Last  _ time, in Logsted, in exile.  _ Last  _ time, where Dream…

But it's not going to be like last time.

Is it?

This is what brings Tommy to the site of the future Big Innit Hotel at 3am one night. Sam Nook is there, powered down. No, not powered down - in sleep mode. He'll wake up on command.

"Hello, Sam Nook," Tommy declares, quiet but clear and firm, into the cold night air. It was only Christmas a month or so ago. Sam Nook didn't exist at Christmas.

The android shudders slightly, its head lifting, its LEDs lighting up one by one up its body and its face. It's designed to be accessible at all hours, so that when Sam is at work or asleep Tommy can still get business done and make progress on his hotel. It blinks once, twice, and its eyes zero in on Tommy.

"HELLO, TOMMYINNIT."

"Hey!" He's not really sure what he came to say. "Hey."

"WHAT IS MY DIRECTIVE THIS EVENING?" the android asks innocently.

And, "erm," Tommy struggles to find an answer, "I'm just here to talk."

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT?"

Tommy blinks. He hadn't really expected Sam Nook to be equipped for that.

"IS THIS RELATED TO MY PRIME DIRECTIVE OR IS THIS A DIFFERENT MATTER?"

"No - well, yes - well… It is  _ technically  _ about the hotel. It is. Not really. No, it is."

"WHAT IS IT, TOMMYINNIT?"

Tommy sighs. "I know you're a robot. And you don't really get the whole… emotions thing. I know. I would say I was sorry for waking you up so late, but you don't really care, do you? You just sleep when you're not needed."

Sam Nook tilts his head in an approximation of a nod. "I AM FULLY CHARGED AT THIS TIME. THIS IS NOT AN INCONVENIENCE. WHY ARE YOU AWAKE AT THIS HOUR, TOMMYINNIT?"

"Oh. Um. Yeah, that's the thing."

A pause.

Tommy's hand flies to the back of his neck, a reflex, a habit, a tell. "Just. Couldn't sleep, really."

"WHY NOT?"

"Yeahhhhhh, I was, er, thinking about a lot of things. Mostly really shit things. Pretty much all really shit things."

"WHAT WAS IT?"

And Tommy knows that this is how the robot is designed - it wants information, it wants to learn so it can grow, gain intelligence, become more helpful to the masses. Doesn't stop it from making him feel very Seen and a bit nervous.

But he wouldn't be all the way out here in the middle of the night for no reason. He wouldn't be here if he didn't trust Sam Nook to be the one to See him.

"Well, I don't know - I'm not sure if you were aware, but recently I had a little bit of a - a bit of an exile."

"I AM PROGRAMMED WITH THIS INFORMATION."

"Right, right, right. And when I was out there, I had this party all planned out, right? Everybody was gonna come, it was gonna be wonderful, they were all gonna see my beach party and be so jealous and wish they had stuck around before. And I wrote some invitations and I sent my - I sent Ghostbur to deliver them and I waited to see who would show up."

Sam Nook's face is inexpressive. Natural, for a robot.

"And -" he laughs, partly out of nerves, partly out of dark comedy in his own memories "- nobody actually did show up, in the end. Except Dream. I put in all that work and nobody came, except the one guy who - well, he was trying to teach me a lesson, I supposed, he was trying to get me to think everybody really did…"  _ hate me. _

He glances around in the darkness. The sky used to be bright with a thousand stars - the rise of towns and nations and business have clouded the atmosphere with pollution, and it's just a little less saturated here in the middle of everything.

It was bright in Logsted.

"But nobody came, and they all acted like it was my fault for not inviting them, even though I  _ did,  _ it was Ghostbur - it was Dream - it wasn't me, I did invite them, I did. So now - now I've got a, er, a bit of a second chance. I'm just -"

He grapples for the words he's seeking. It's always been difficult for him to turn his thoughts into something digestible. Wilbur was always the wordsmith.

"I'm worried, I suppose. I don't want - I mean, this time is gonna be different, right?"

"IT WILL BE DIFFERENT, YES."

"And - and not just because it's a hotel this time, not a party, right?"

Sam Nook's eye apertures narrow, briefly. It's thinking. Processing.

"I did it myself. I went - all the way out there, I sent everybody the letters, I did it all on my own, there was no way anybody could have - they couldn't intercept me. And I'm not on bad terms with people any more, I made up with Tubbo, I made up with everyone, I - well, I did do a bit of the old permanent borrowing from Techno, I hope he wasn't too cross about that one, maybe - no, he won't mind. And Dream's not… He's invited, too, as a guest. So it's different."

"THIS DOES SOUND DIFFERENT FROM THE INFORMATION I HAVE BEEN PROVIDED ABOUT YOUR PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO BRING YOUR ALLIES TOGETHER."

"I'm just worried."

He stares at the android. Something in him wants to reach out, to take its hand and find comfort in the artificial warmth. He doesn't have warm clothing, although the region's quite temperate anyway, so he doesn't really need it at home. He didn't really need it in Logsted. But nobody was holding his hand out there, and here it would… it would be easy.

He holds on, instead, to the side of his arm.

"I'm just worried," he repeats uselessly, "I just want to make sure. Because it's different now. Because - they're gonna come this time, right?"

Sam Nook stares at him, unblinking as ever. "IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE INVITED WILL ATTEND ACCORDING TO MY CALCULATIONS, TOMMYINNIT. THE MOST LIKELY ATTENDEE IS TUBBO UNDERSCORE, FOLLOWED BY CAPTAIN PUFFY."

"Puffy?" He doesn't… actually remember inviting her.

"SHE FINDS CELEBRATIONS ENJOYABLE AND SHE FINDS YOUR COMPANY ENJOYABLE. THIS LEAVES HER AT OVER A 78% CHANCE OF ATTENDING THE EVENT."

That's reassuring, actually. "Do you… I mean, what are the chances… what do you reckon, if nobody comes again?"

"NEGLIGIBLE."

Tommy's pretty sure that means there's basically no chance of it. And maybe Sam Nook is lying, to make him feel better, but… robots don't lie, do they?

Either way, it breaks the small resolve he had, and he smiles, blinking maybe a little too hard.

"Good. That's good, that's great, that's pog."

And then, and not because anybody asked,

"It was so… Last time. I mean, getting up and getting ready - and you check who's online, you do, you have a look, and Phil was on, and Fundy was on, and I - and I mean, I thought they were gonna come, right? And then time goes on and they start to… and then you're sitting there, waiting at the portal, and… you just - nobody's there. And Dream was there. And I - and I mean, knowing it was  _ him,  _ if you think about it - he must have - he fucking enjoyed it. Sick bastard, he was enjoying that. He told everyone not to come and he  _ watched  _ me work it out in front of him and he just said, and he said  _ don't worry, Tommy, I'm your friend, we can play together, we can go tridenting, it's okay, I'm here for you,  _ and -"

Something's catching in his throat and he's not sure he wants to let it out. Sam watches the footage back, sometimes, he knows. Sam's never seen Tommy cry. He thinks.

"You get it. You know what I mean."

It's so quiet. Tommy loves to fill an awkward silence. It's harder when his only company doesn't exactly know the  _ meaning  _ of awkwardness.

"You - I mean, Sam - he watches Dream, does he?"

"AWESAMDUDE IS THE WARDEN OF THE PRISON WHERE THE PRISONER DREAMWASTAKEN IS BEING HELD."

"But does he… There's cameras, in there, or something, I assume?"

"NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, TOMMYINNIT. AWESAMDUDE ONLY SEES THE PRISONER DURING CHECKUPS AND SCHEDULED VISITS."

"So he's not… he's not watching him, really?"

"NOT BY THAT DEFINITION."

Tommy nods, swallowing. "Right. Okay."  _ Good. That's good. Constant surveillance is… _

He looks back over at the hotel. "How long, d'you think, till it's done?"

"A MATTER OF DAYS. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR WORK ETHIC, TOMMYINNIT."

"I've got one of those. I've been working so hard, you know that."

"YES. AWESAMDUDE IS PROUD OF YOU, TOMMYINNIT."

Which - yeah. It's a robot. It's programmed to say that.

Tommy turns so Sam Nook's vision can't pick up on the way his eyes well up.

He's not even going to fucking  _ think  _ about Wilbur tonight. One helping of emotional turmoil is enough, he doesn't need the mountain of Wilbur-adjacent trauma on top of it.

Tonight, he's just going to let Sam Nook's words, words that Sam wrote into it, ring around his head until he's satisfied, until the android beats it into him with cold facts and statistics that this time will be different, that this time his friends will come.

"Tell me again. Tell me the chances of nobody coming."

"NEGLIGIBLE."

"Negligible," he sounds out. "Negative. Never. No chance. Right?"

"THESE ARE ALL CLOSE SYNONYMS OF NEGLIGIBLE."

"Somebody's definitely gonna show up."

"ALMOST CERTAINLY."

"You're sure?"

"MY CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT."

The little voice in the back of his head still worries, obviously, it's not gonna go away in one night. It still swears that he's wrong, that Sam Nook is lying to make him feel better, that he's going to turn up to an empty crowd and be forced to go back home alone, or back to -

The little voice in his head can shut the fuck up, though.

Sam's got his back, against Dream, with Sam Nook.

It's NOT going to be like last time.

**Author's Note:**

> AND THEN EVERYBODY WHO WAS INVITED SHOWED UP AND EVEN PEOPLE HE DIDNT INVITE ALSO SHOWED UP AND TOMMY WAS HAPPY AND LOVED THE END


End file.
